Как лев (Russia X Reader Lemon)

1

St Petersburg, October 1942
"Kirkland, take these over to the French, will you? See what they can make of them." Your commander called, you nodded, saluted and took the rolled up plans from him before you left the room. Outside today was like all the other days you had seen so far in Russia, blistering cold and snowing. As you pulled your jacket tighter around your body and sighed, you looked down the street and saw the French hall. You quickly rushed down the street, being careful when your foot stepped on the occasional patch of ice between the thick snow. You had been in Russia for a month now since your brother was deployed here. You helped where ever you could, usually doing small errands such as this, however took were sometimes asked to help with strategic plans. The French hut sat opposite the Russian hut, though you had never been in there. The language barrier meant that you hadn't spoken to many of the other soldiers here, only those who spoke some English. As you knocked on the wooden door and waited for it to open, shivering as a strong winter breeze rushed past you and chilled you through your coat. When the door finally opened, a man you know as Commander Bonnefoy answered and smiled to you.
"My, my. What have we here? You couldn't keep away from me, huh?" He with a small chuckle as he crossed his arms across his chest and leant against the door frame. Commander Bonnefoy always flirted with you when he saw you, though you did not know if he was serious or just being friendly. You laughed and held out the rolled papers to him, making him smile and nod as he took them. "Merci, Cheri." With that, he saluted, winked and closed the door. You smiled to yourself and turned around to begin walking back to the British hut when you heard a voice whispering. When you turned and looked down the street you saw nothing and so turned and continued walking.
"Spiacente, signora.*" Somebody said, you turned around and gasped when you saw a man in a dark blue uniform standing a little down the road from you, a gun was held out in front of him and he had his eyes closed. As you started to run back towards the British hut, you tried to call for help, but the terror caused your voice to stick in your throat. You didn't hear the gun shot, you just felt the bullet hit the back of your right shoulder, causing you to spin around quickly and fall onto your back in the snow. You saw the man running away as you fell, you thought you saw a tear coming from his eye.
"O, kto-nibud', poluchite meditsinskuyu pomoshch'!**" You heard somebody shout before a man appeared above you, but you could only make out an outline. You could hear talking around you, but all the voices were muttered and there was a loud ringing in your ears. "Please, hang on, Ma'am." The voice said, you tried to ask for your brother, but you still could not speak. The last thing you remembered was the man above you lifting you up before everything went black.

"She's waking up! Someone get Arthur!" You heard a familiar voice of one of the British soldiers saying. Your eyes slowly opened and you groaned at the bright light as it hit your eyes. When you looked to your side you saw you were lying in a bed with a small table beside you which had a piece of paper and a vase of flowers, which made you smile.
"(name)? Oh my god! Thank god you're all right!" Arthur said as he ran into the room and knelt beside your bed, he took your hand in his and kissed the back of it. Arthur was your oldest brother and your closest sibling. He was a pilot in the RAF and was away often, seeing him here made you so happy. "You look pale, old girl."
"Enough of the old." You commented, making Arthur laugh as he cried a little. Old girl was his nickname for you, though you hated it. "How...how did I get here? Where am I?" You looked around the room fully to see deep red walls, a bright white ceiling and long curtains matching the colour of the walls.
"You have a man to thank. I will go and get him." Arthur said before he kissed your hand again, stood and ran from the room. You hadn't seen Arthur this full of life for many years, not since the death of your Father. You sat up in the large bed and groaned at the pain in your shoulder, looking down you saw a bandage wrapped around it, with a small red patch on it.
"Ah, Miss Kirkland. It's wonderful to see you awake." A voice said from the door. You looked over the room to see Arthur making his way back over to you, whilst a tall man with broad shoulders and silver hair stood by the door. He had pale skin, bright eyes and a sweet smile. "My apologies, where are my manners? I am Ivan Braginsky, a Lieutenant in the Soviet Army. I heard the gun shot and ran from the barracks." You nodded slowly.
"Th-thank you, Lieutenant Braginsky." You replied as you bowed your head a little, flinching at the sharp pain in your shoulder. "Did you catch the man who did it?" Arthur sighed and shook his head.
"Do you remember anything about him? What uniform he was wearing...anything at all?" Arthur asked you as he held your hand tightly in his. His skin was rough and cold.
"He...spoke Italian. His uniform was dark blue and he had brown hair. That's all I remember." You told them, Ivan moved to the foot of your bed and nodded as he listened to you. "I'm sorry I can't remember more."
"You remember much more than we expected." Ivan said to you with another sweet smile, you smiled back and nodded to him.
"Kirkland, you are required back at base." A man said from the doorway, Arthur turned to look at him before shaking his head.
"Arthur, go. I'll be fine. You must, it's your job." You told him as you took both of his hands in yours, for a few moments he looked at you with wide eyes before he nodded, leant forward and pressed his forehead to yours. When he stood up, he kissed your hair and saluted to Ivan before he left, along with the other British officers. Ivan smiled to you and sighed deeply. "I worry about him at times, you know?" He nodded and smiled.
"He is your brother, you are bound to worry. I worry about my two sisters, they are very spirited girls." He told you as he walked around to the side of your bed and smiled to you. "Would you care for a cup of tea?"
"That sounds wonderful. Thank you, Lieutenant Braginsky." You said, he walked towards the door and turned to smile to you.
"Please, Ivan is fine." He told you, you nodded and smiled to him before he left the room.
~~~1 Week Later~~~
"That looks to be healing nicely, Miss Kirkland." Matthew said to you as he examined your shoulder. "The bandages may stay off, I think." You smiled and nodded as he gently washed the area.
"Doctor, how is Eduard's leg? Oh! I'm sorry I did not know you were still here, Miss Kirkland." Ivan said as he walked into the room and covered his eyes with his hand, making you smile. You only had one shoulder from your blouse, yet found it rather funny Ivan was so embarrassed.
"That's quite alright, Mister Braginsky. I'm all done, you can look." You told him, he moved his hand, nodded and cleared his throat. "I'll leave you to talk about you friend." With that, you shook the Doctor's hand and left the room, smiling to Ivan as you passed him. Ivan had many grand paintings hanging along the hallways of his house and in the rooms. He had once told you the history of the building when you were still stuck in the bed, he told you how it was once a country house for one of the Tsars of Russia and their family. As you sat in the window of the library, taking a sip from your tea you gasped when you saw Arthur walking up the pathway, he looked rugged and tired. You ran to open the door and hugged him tightly as soon as he stood in front of you, he hugged you back but said nothing. "Arthur! It's wonderful to see you! The Doctor said the bandage can stay off, isn't that wonderful?" When Arthur said nothing, you stood back and moved your head to the side as you looked at him. "Arthur? What's wrong?" He met your eyes and you now saw he had been crying, he looked exhausted and worn out. You took his hands and led him into the drawing room to sit down and handed him a cup of tea.
"We were attacked, the Japanese, I think." He told you, you sighed and nodded as you listened to him. "One chap was brave, coming almost nose to nose with my plane. He didn't say anything, just smirked and then flew away. Some from the French barracks were hit and shot down. Bonnefoy is okay, just shook up."
"Arthur, I'm sorry. Have you slept?" You asked, he simply shook his head and took a drink from his tea, though his hand was shaking.
"Ah, Arthur. It is good to see you. Your sister has made wonderful progress, Matthew has just left." Ivan said as he walked into the room, the smile soon dropped from his face when he sensed the tension in the room and saw Arthur. "How bad?"
"Bad. At least eight planes lost." Arthur replied causing Ivan to sigh and sit down.
"Germans?" Ivan asked, you stood beside Arthur as he sat in the chair and took a drink, you noticed the tremor in his hand as he lifted the cup to his lips and placed it back in the saucer.
"Japanese. I didn't recognise the man I faced." Arthur replied,for a few moments nobody said anything. You cleared your throat, causing both men to turn and look up at you.
"I think I'm going to get some air." You said as you began to walk through the room, however you were stopped when Arthur took hold of your wrist and looked up at you with a concerned look, one you were used to seeing. You smiled, knelt down and pressed a kiss to his cheek before you nodded. You bowed a little to Ivan and left the room. For a few moments you remained on the other side of the door, listening to the two men as they began speaking about the attack on the planes, however you soon walked down the hall and into Ivan's gardens, smiling as you held out one hand. Snow landed on your warm palm and soon disappeared, causing the freezing water to chill your hand. You noticed the large trees behind Ivan's house sway in the strong breeze and it made you realise you had never been into those woods. As you walked towards the end of the garden path and placed one hand on the strong iron gate, you could see the entrance to the woods. As you were about to open the gate, you heard a voice from the top of the garden.
"(name), I'm going back to the barracks. Do you wish to come with me or stay here with Ivan for a while longer?" He asked, you walked quickly over to him and smiled as you took his hands, still feeling them shaking.
"I wish to come back with you!" You exclaimed, however the expression on Arthur's face gave you an answer. "You've already decided that I'm staying here, haven't you?" He looked at you and sighed as he nodded. You let go of his hands, which only made him sigh deeper. "Why? Don't you want me back in the barracks?"
"You're safer here, you're almost in the country, nobody will come out here. Please, for my peace of mind, stay here. I trust Ivan to keep you safe." He told you, he stepped closer once again and put one hand on your cheek and smiled to you, which made to smile in return before you nodded. "Thank you, Old Girl." With that, he kissed your hair and smiled to you. "Now get inside, you'll catch your death out here." You nodded, hugged him and kissed is cheek before you walked back inside, waving to Arthur before he disappeared down the lane.

*= Sorry, Ma'am
**= Oh my, somebody get medical help!